Written by

More inside:

• Amendments seek to get around Jindal, 3B• Work for good of the region, 5B

More

ADVERTISEMENT

Motorcycle helmets. Teacher tenure. Ethics reform. Those are just a few of the subjects senators from northeastern Louisiana will take on in this year’s legislative session, which begins Monday in Baton Rouge.

Sen. Rick Gallot, D-Ruston, has submitted a bill on behalf of a teacher organization to adjust the teacher tenure law. The current law calls for tenure to be granted for if a teacher is rated “highly effective” for five years within a six-year period. Gallot’s bill would adjust that time to allow highly effective teachers tenure if they maintain that level for three consecutive years.

It also would also allow “ineffective” teachers an extra year to improve rather than immediately losing their tenure.

“From a timing standpoint, it seems more fair and equitable to adopt this time limit,” Gallot said. “Over the last few years, we haven’t been fair to teachers with all the tenure change laws.”

Another of Gallot’s bills would provide a mechanism for searching for and removing laws from the books that have been deemed unconstitutional by high courts. Fourth Judicial District Attorney Jerry Jones assisted in crafting the bill.

Gallot also is taking another stab at changing how candidates unaffiliated with a political party are listed on the ballot. The current law lists such candidates as “no party,” but Gallot would like to see those candidates listed as “independent” and for those candidates to be allowed to call themselves such.

Gallot attempted to pass a similar bill in 2011, but it was vetoed by the governor. He said the “N” at the end of a name on a ballot could be misleading.

“I think it is confusing to voters and unfair to those who choose not to affiliate with the Republicans or Democrats,” Gallot said.

Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe, is proposing cost of living adjustments for retirees, survivors and beneficiaries of the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System. The increase would be determined later.

“It’s probably been five years since they got an increase in their retirement. It’s been tough to do that,” Walsworth said.

(Page 2 of 2)

Walsworth also has a bill that would remove the motorcycle helmet requirement for riders who are at least 21 years old, satisfactorily complete a safety class and maintain certain liability policies.

Walsworth said he believes certain helmets make drivers less safe because the helmet can obstruct peripheral vision.

“In most states, you don’t have to have a helmet,” Walsworth said. “It’s tightly worded to make sure the type of people using it are safe drivers. This is the first step. If it doesn’t work, we won’t go any further.”

Another of Walsworth’s bills would adjust how members are selected to the Louisiana Public Defender Board. His bill would call for at least two members from each of the state’s six Congressional districts to serve on the board. The law would be grandfathered in as terms, resignations and other events occur that would create vacancies.

Walsworth said he’s also going to work for additional funding for higher and secondary education.

Sen. Bob Kostelka, R-Monroe, has a bill that would require members of charter school boards to file a financial disclosure statement. He said the bill will help trace public money to make sure it’s being spent in the right way.

“The charter school boards, those people don’t have to do anything. The public schools do. The school board members do. But the charter schools — even those receiving voucher students — they’re not graded like the public schools, so this is making the charter schools do the same things the public schools do,” Kostelka said.

Kostelka also has a bill that would make vehicular homicide a “crime of violence” when the driver’s blood-alcohol content exceeds 0.20 percent. Crimes of violence typically carry stiffer penalties.

Kostelka said the bill comes from a case where a pedestrian was struck and killed by a driver with an extremely high blood-alcohol content. The court ruled the driver was so drunk, the death of the pedestrian was intentional.

“It’s to clear up the law. My bill lets the court not go through that torturous reasoning. When it gets that high, can it be a crime of violence? Now it can be,” Kostelka said.

Kostelka said he also is going to fight implementation of Common Core Standards in schools and fight against proposed medical marijuana bills.

Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, has a bill that would add more assistant district attorneys in certain judicial districts, including the 5th and 37th Judicial Districts, which are in northeastern Louisiana.

Another of Riser’s bills would provide for the carrying of concealed firearms by qualified law enforcement officers and retired law enforcement officers in any place open to the public.

Sen. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, has a number of bills associated with agriculture, including a bill switching seedling sale authority from the Forestry Commission to the Department of Agriculture and Forestry and a bill adjusting the regulations for those that keep exotic animals.

Thompson has a bill that would lengthen the amount of time arson offenders must register with the fire marshal and add “injury by arson” to the definition of the arson law.